


Blood Ties

by rexthranduil



Series: Family [1]
Category: Stargate - All Series, Stargate SG-1, Stargate Universe
Genre: Father-Son Relationship, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-15
Updated: 2013-04-15
Packaged: 2017-12-08 14:41:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/762526
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rexthranduil/pseuds/rexthranduil
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He sipped at his coffee and spent about twenty-minutes sifting through the database before he heard Rush exclaim, 'ELI! MOVE!' and he was tackled by Rush as there was an explosion at his console. The last thing he remembered was the sound of an alarm and of Scott's voice echoing in his ears. Then it all went black.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An interesting Occurence

Eli walked along the ancient corridor into the make-shift mess hall and grabbed two cups of hot coffee; managing to avoid spilling the scalding hot beverages as he did so. He nodded to the SGC soldier who was standing beside the tray of coffee before turning away and walking back along the corridor and off towards the lab he and Rush worked in, near the gate-room.

He had a funny feeling that today wasn't going to be so good and he desperately hoped that nothing life-threatening would happen to them... _there were_ only so many near-death experiences a person could take after all.

As he walked into the lab he noticed that Rush was still working at the console he'd been tapping away at when Eli left to get some shut-eye last night (or should he call it early morning? That was interesting to ponder actually; did they really experience time while they were travelling in hyperspace?).

He purposely made his footfalls loud and noticeable, and said in a falsely cheery voice, "Hey! Look at what I've got. _Hot coffee_!"

He walked over to Rush and placed one of the mugs beside him, noticing the lack of response, "Well _hello to you too Eli._ Thanks for the coffee it's _just what_ _I_ _need_ to stay standing." he muttered under his breath as he walked away over to the other console that he'd been working on.

He tapped a few commands in and his screen lit up properly and the search he had been running recommenced. He sipped at his coffee and spent about twenty-minutes sifting through the database before he heard Rush exclaim, 'ELI! MOVE!' and he was tackled by Rush as there was an explosion at his console.

The last thing he remembered was the sound of an alarm and of Scott's voice echoing in his ears. Then it all went black.

 

* * *

 

When he woke up he found himself lying on a bed, in the newly discovered infirmary; complete with various creepy equipment that totally gave away the nefarious intentions of doctors' to poke and prod until their ~~victims~~ patients' cried. He groaned and sat up. He looked around and saw Scott, Young and TJ standing next to each other and speaking in hushed tones.

He looked around the room, slowly, and said, 'What happened?'

Scott and TJ immediately stopped their discussion and made their way over to him, TJ smiled at him and said, 'Hey Eli. How do you feel?'

"Like I got hit by a freight train. What happened?" Eli answered, his throat scratchy and his voice raw.

Scott looked at TJ for a moment before answering, "We don't really know Eli... you and Rush were working in the lab. And there was some sort of explosion in there, we heard alarms and when we got there we found you and Rush out of it."

Eli sat there for a moment in silence before asking, "Where's Doctor Rush?"

"He was injured in the explosion Eli..." TJ said, and seeing Eli's panicked look she hurriedly added, "But he's not dead! He needs a blood transfusion except..."

"Except what?" Eli asked, afraid of the answer she'd give him. Afraid that she'd tell him that Rush had some impossible blood disease thing that meant he couldn't get a blood transfusion from anyone on the ship and would die a painful death and be left bleeding and-

"Except there's no-one on Destiny who has the same blood type." She finished sadly, not looking him in the eye.

Eli stared at his hands, that were clasped together tightly, his knuckles white and asked quietly, "What's his blood type?"

"O negative." TJ answered checking his head in case he was concussed; the last thing any of them needed was a kid with Eli's smarts having a serious head injury and working on sensitive equipment - it would be just _asking_ for trouble.

"I'm O negative." Eli almost whispered, he felt her fingers still as they checked his head. The chances of more than one individual on Destiny having O negative blood apparently was unusual enough to warrant TJ's disbelief; not really a surprise to be honest though, she had everyone's blood types on record except his.

" _You're_ O negative?" She asked, almost not believing what he was saying.

"Yeah. Take some of my blood." He answered, a bit louder and more forcefully, "He saved _my life,_ least I can do is save _his._ "

 

* * *

 

T.J took a pint of Eli's blood and transfused it to Rush, hoping that it would help Rush. She knew he had a couple of cracked ribs from where parts of the console had impacted against him and she also knew that he definitely had a concussion, as well as a severe gash in his right leg; hence the reason why he needed the blood.

She took a small amount of Eli's blood and checked it using one of the devices in the Ancient infirmary. She wanted to make sure that he didn't have anything that could harm Rush even more.

When she found nothing wrong with it she checked some of Rush's blood, from an earlier sample she'd taken and confirmed that their blood types were a perfect match.

As she turned away from the device it began to compare the two samples of blood automatically and when she turned back to take them out she saw on the devices screen something that caused her to gasp in surprise.


	2. Only Blood On Icarus

Three days after he had tackled Eli Doctor Nicholas Rush woke up feeling as though he'd just been in an explosion... he opened his eyes quickly and tried to sit up but felt a restraining hand on his shoulder.

He heard a feminine voice saying, 'it's okay Dr. Rush. It's alright.'

He relaxed slightly and stopped trying to sit up, instead he focused his sights on the person who still had their hand on his shoulder encase he tried to sit up again. He saw TJ standing next him with a relieved smile on her face, as though she was  _happy_  he was awake... for the life of him he couldn't figure why.

He asked her, 'where's Eli?' and frowned at how raspy his voice was.

She passed him a cup of water and helped him take a mouthful of it before answering. 'Eli's fine. You however are not. You're lucky to be alive Dr. Rush.' she admonished gently, 'we were worried you wouldn't make it.'

Rush nearly laughed when she said that, if he'd had the energy he would have told her that  _'no-one on the ship would've been worried about him since, he, was the one that had stranded them all on this ship with no hope of ever getting home'_. He doubted even Eli would've been that upset with his passing.

Instead he just settled with a raised eyebrow and a disbelieving look. She looked away then and focused on checking his injuries, she began to speak to him as she checked them, 'you've got two cracked ribs and one that's broken. You had a mild concussion which I believe will have healed up by now as well as a deep laceration in the right leg below the knee where a piece of shrapnel was embedded. All in all Dr. Rush, you're lucky you're alive.'

"I'm sure you've dealt with worse injuries than that Lieutenant. Surely my injuries weren't that serious," Rush highly doubted that he'd been that close to death with a couple of cracked ribs and a cut.

TJ was silent for a moment as she rolled the leg of his pants up so she could see the healing wound. When she did speak her voice was low, "The injuries themselves weren't the biggest problem. This laceration caused you to lose a lot of blood and no one onboard Destiny has the same blood type as you. That's why you nearly _died."_

Rush was silent for a moment as he watched TJ continue with her ministrations, he winced slightly as she pressed on the healing wound, but didn't make a sound.

"Obviously someone on Destiny has the same blood type as me otherwise I wouldn't be here..." Rush said quietly almost to himself, his voice lacking his usual scornful intent; evidently due to the general exhaustion he was experiencing.

"On the Icarus base I was charged with checking and cross-referencing everyone' blood types because the nurse who was supposed to do it was ill. I now know everyone's blood type on this ship and I was certain that no one else had O negative blood. I was right about no one on the Icarus base having O negative blood except you, but I was wrong about everyone on this ship about not having O negative blood. There's only one other person besides yourself who has O negative blood and they're the only one who didn't have a psychical before the base was attacked." TJ answered her voice still low. She finished with his leg and rolled the pants leg back down before she finally looked at him. She smiled and said, "I'll be back in a bit Dr. Rush, I've got to check on my other patient." She turned away and moved towards the door.

Before she left though Rush called out, "Who was it? Who was it that donated their blood?"

TJ turned around and answered simply, "Eli." as she left the room, thus leaving Rush to his thoughts.

 

* * *

 

TJ walked along the corridor towards the lab that Rush and Eli always worked in and was surprised when Lieutenant Scott appeared behind her and grabbed her arm. She looked at him questioningly but he shook his head and placed a finger to his lips signalling for her to be silent. He then let go of her and slowly walked up to the open door into the lab, making not a sound. TJ followed him just as silently and frowned sadly when she saw what Scott hadn't wanted her to disturb.

Eli was sitting at a console, typing away at a determined pace that TJ was more used to seeing Rush using. She checked him over from the door and took note of the dark rings around his eyes and his slightly paler complexion, she silently cursed herself for not checking on him sooner.

She looked at Scott and silently asked, "should I go in there?" to which he shook his head and motioned for them to head back the way they'd came.

She gave Eli one last look before following Scott as he crept back along the corridor to a decent distance. She felt bad for leaving Eli since she was the one on Destiny who was meant to look after them all, she was the one who had basically become an doctor, not by diplomas but by necessity.

Once they were far enough away from the lab Scott turned to TJ and said, "I checked in on him yesterday and found him doing a Rush. He wouldn't stop working and I was worried about forcibly stopping him in case I hurt him. He promised me he'd get some shut-eye but I don't think he has."

TJ frowned as Scott sighed dejectedly, looked directly her and asked, "What should we do about him?"

TJ shrugged, she really didn't have an answer to such a question about Eli. If it were anyone else on the crew she'd be able to harass them to sleep but, unfortunately, both Eli and Rush had the uncanny habit of ignoring her 'suggestions' to rest, "He won't listen to either of us. I think the only one he will listen to is his  _father_."


	3. Guilt and Breakdowns

Rush waited in silence until TJ returned from seeing her other patient and smiled at her slightly, which seemed to knock off guard. He asked her, "When do I get out of here Lieutenant?"

TJ looked at him for a full minute, thinking about something before answering slowly, "It'll be a few days yet Doctor Rush but... I think you can go for a little walk as long as you don't stress yourself out."

TJ walked over to a cupboard and removed two... _things._ They were about three-quarters the height of TJ and looked as though they can be adjusted. As Rush stared at them he finally realised what they were.

"Crutches?" he muttered, looking at TJ dubiously.

She smiled at Rush and nodded saying, "Crutches."

She grinned at his face, he looked as though he'd just been told he had to baby-sit an entire class of pre-schoolers. He wasn't very happy about the crutches then.

He muttered something under his breath that TJ didn't think was English so she ignored it and placed them against the bed he was on. She extended an arm and waited for him to grasp it before helping him to sit up and turn to the side, so that his legs were dangling over the side. He looked at the crutches rather reservedly and said, "can I go to my lab before you drag me off to the mess?"

TJ froze on instinct for a moment before forcing herself to continue helping Rush to get a handle on the crutches. She didn't look at him as she spoke and said, "I'd rather you went to the mess first Doctor Rush. I know for a fact that you won't leave the lab if you go there right this second."

Rush looked at her and said, "Could you stop saying 'Doctor Rush'? Just call me either 'Rush', like everyone else, or my actual name 'Nicholas'. Please."

TJ looked at him startled. She saw his face with looked to be a mixture between frustration, pain and exasperation. She smiled at him and said, "Alright Rush," to which he smiled in relief. "Come on. I'll help you stand and then we'll get you something to eat  _before_  you go to the lab."

He rolled his eyes at that and accepted help as he finally managed to stand and they made their way slowly but surely out of the room and along the Ancient corridor towards the mess hall.

 

* * *

 

Scott was stood in the mess hall, leaning against the wall, when he saw TJ and Rush hobbling into the room. He stretched and made his way over to them when TJ helped Rush to sit down at one of the tables nearest to the door. He noticed how Rush looked as though he wanted to get out of the mess as quickly as he possibly could,  _not a people person is he?_

Scott walked over to the table and nodded at TJ when she noticed him. She smiled and went off to get Rush some of the rations. He sat down next to Rush and said, "Nice to see you're finally up and around."

Rush's attention snapped onto Scott and for a moment Rush couldn't seem to find the right words to say. Eventually though he managed to say, "Aye. I must agree with you Lieutenant, it's quite nice to be awake and moving."

Rush felt uncomfortable in the room with so many people all staring at him when he wasn't doing anything to try and gain their attention. He felt the stabbing anger and resentment in each of the stares but he desperately tried to focus his mind on Scott and what the Lieutenant was saying.

"Yeah. I'll bet. I once broke my wrist when I was a kid and it took ages to heal-up. I remember not being able to do anything that I wanted to do for weeks. When the cast came off I felt like the whole world had just opened up to me and I had a free pass. Best feeling in the world." Scott said smiling as his eyes gained a far off look. Rush smiled slightly before having his attention diverted to TJ who'd just appeared by his side holding a bowl of ration soup, yum.

Seeing Rush's grimace TJ laughed quietly and said, 'it's a lot better than it looks... right?' she looked at Scott who looked at her then at the bowl in her hand and also grimaced. "I guess not then."

She placed the bowl down in front of Rush and passed him a spoon before sitting down beside him, so that he was flanked on both sides, and staring at him expectedly.

He sighed in defeat, knowing he couldn't make a break for it – unless he actually wanted another broken bone in his body – so he just placated himself with the knowledge that though the ration soup may taste absolutely vile it would help him heal quicker and get what little strength he had back.

Eventually the feeling of the many stares upon him faded away as people began to focus back on their own servings and whatever conversations they were having before he'd come along.

 

* * *

 

Once Rush was finished with his  _lovely_  meal Scott took the bowl and spoon from him and took it over to the area where all the other used dishes were, while TJ helped Rush to stand and start to hobble out of the mess. With everyone staring at him once again.

Scott easily made it over to them before they'd even reached the door. He grinned and said to TJ, "Do you think we should just carry him? We'd get moving quicker."

TJ smiled and Rush glared at him rather half-heartedly, most of attention focused on not causing himself anymore pain. Scott, still grinning followed behind Rush and TJ as they finally left the mess and began the long, slow, and painful for Rush, trek to the lab he and Eli used.

Rush, when he finally got to the lab, felt like he was about to collapse. He felt absolutely awful. He was shaking madly and was absolutely boiling hot. He felt like he was back on the desert planet, the heat was unbearable. Except neither TJ nor Scott seemed to be affected. Was it just him or was it that they were better at handling the heat?

Just outside the lab Rush had to stop, and TJ supported him checking him over quickly. She frowned and said, "You're running a fever. I'm taking you back to the infirmary."

Rush frantically shook his head, even though that made him feel worse, and said firmly, "We're already here and I just want to see how bad the damage was... and how Eli is. Once I've done that I'll go quietly."

frown deepened but she nodded and said to Scott, "Make sure there's somewhere in there where he can sit down."

Scott gave a quick nod and walked into the lab, going straight over to the corner that Eli usually occupied and moving some pieces of equipment and stuff that Eli had strewn across it. He then looked at Eli and said, "Rush is outside Eli."

His words seemed to have an instantaneous effect on Eli who froze and stared at the console he had been typing away at. Scott didn't concern himself with Eli though because TJ and Rush had just walked through the door, or rather  _staggered_  through it. TJ looked to be supporting most of Rush's weight and she looked like she was struggling, so Scott went over and took Rush's weight. Between the pair of them they managed to get Rush over to the corner and get him seated before he completely crumpled on the floor.

TJ looked at Scott and said quietly, "I need to get him to the infirmary _now._ His fever's even higher than it was a few seconds ago."

Rush, it seemed had apparently heard this, even though he looked as though he was nearly unconscious and muttered, "No... not until I know Eli's alright."

Scott looked at TJ and TJ looked at Scott before they both turned to look at Eli and said in unison, "Eli. Come here."

 

* * *

 

Eli couldn't move. He was frozen. He could hear TJ and Scott telling him to get over there but he just couldn't move. His mind replayed the entire reason for Rush's injury to him for the hundredth time and he still couldn't stop feeling guilty. He  _should_  have known something was wrong, if he'd only been  _paying attention_  then Rush might never have been injured. He might have been able to stop the explosion  _before_  it occurred.

Someone grabbed his arm and physically dragged him over to Rush and TJ and he realised that it was Scott dragging him. He felt his body unfreeze but his mind seized up when he saw Rush properly.

He looked like he was _dying._

Instantly, as though someone had just gave his brain an electric shock, Eli started speaking, "TJ, what's wrong with him? Shouldn't he be in the infirmary? He looks awful." and then, without waiting for any of her responses he turned abruptly and grabbed a hand held tablet from behind him and typed a few commands into it.

Within seconds a long strip of metal, that was about two, to three inches thick hovered in the air around knee height. He drove it over to Rush and said, "Put him on that. It'll be quicker."

Scott and TJ looked at each other, this was not what they'd expected but they held their tongues for now and proceeded to gently place the now unconscious Rush onto the floating metal. Once they had done that, Eli began to drive it out of the room and towards the infirmary with Scott and TJ following behind him.

Scott asked TJ quietly, "Is that the hover-thing that Eli built when we needed to collect that ice?"

TJ nodded but didn't speak, her eyes focused on the unconscious Rush and she was mostly oblivious to anything else.

Within a few minutes, and several fast-dodging people, they were at the infirmary and once again, TJ and Scott were lifting Rush up onto the bed he'd not long vacated.

Scott and Eli then hung back as TJ and one of the few nurses on Destiny began to sort Rush out.

Eli stood, silently, watching as TJ worked her medical magic and Scott looked from the action around Rush to Eli and suddenly decided that he needed to get Eli out of the infirmary fast.

He gently took Eli's arm and steered him out of the room and into one of the opposite rooms that he guessed was the Ancient version of a waiting room; it looked pretty much the same to that of a Surgery's waiting room in his opinion.

He guided Eli over to a seat before sitting himself and looking directly at Eli. He then began to speak, "Eli. You know none of this is your fault right?"

Eli, for the most part, stared at the other end of the room, completely oblivious to what Scott had said.

Scott repeated himself, making his words that bit sharper and louder, "Eli! You  _do_  know that none of this is  _your_  fault?"

Eli started and looked at Scott. He numbly shook his head, he  _was_  to blame.  _He_  should've realised something was wrong. He  _should have known_!

Scott sighed and said, his voice soft again, "Eli. You couldn't have known that that explosion was going to occur. You are not to blame for  _any_  of this."

Eli finally spoke, "You're _wrong..._ Rush saw the problem, but he couldn't fix it. My console would've fixed the problem but I wasn't paying attention to what it was telling me. I ignored the warnings and Rush got injured _because of me!"_ He stood up suddenly, looking extremely anxious and guilt-ridden.

Scott stood up also, worried because he saw Eli wobble slightly, as though he couldn't keep his balance. He held his hands up in a non-threatening manner and said, "Eli. Calm down mate. You don't look so good.'"

Eli whirled around suddenly, wobbling even more as he nearly lost his balance. " _I_ don't look so good! Rush looks like he's about to... to.. die and _you're_ telling _me_ I don't look so good! Are you blind or just mentally retarded!?" He shouted, his voice loud and strained.

Before Scott could even answer though, Eli's eyes suddenly rolled in their sockets and he crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Shit!" Scott exclaimed as he fell to his knees beside Eli and checked his pulse and breathing. "Oh... man."

 

* * *

 

TJ had finally managed to get Rush's temperature under some semblance of control, and had ordered the nurse to make sure the Ancient device continued to regulate his body temperature, when she heard Scott shouting her name.

She left the room after glancing at Rush one more time and bolted towards the sound of Scott's voice. She entered the room opposite the infirmary and saw Scott on the floor next to an unconscious Eli.

"What happened?" She asked immediately making her way over to Eli and checking his vitals.

"We were talking, he got agitated, and then collapsed." Scott answered simply.

He looked at her and added in an undertone, "I don't think he's eaten at all since Rush's accident TJ."

She frowned and said, 'We need to get him into the infirmary now!' Scott nodded and radioed for anyone near the infirmary to make their way to the waiting room to help him carry Eli across the hall.

He figured that at least half of the people aboard Destiny would come at his call, Eli was pretty-well liked by most people. After a few moments three SGC personnel walked through the door and helped Scott carry Eli into the infirmary. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that there were several people watching the goings on, all looking pretty concerned. He was right about Eli being well-liked.


	4. The Great Escape (from the Infirmary)

After three days of absolute, insane worrying on TJ's part both Rush and Eli finally became conscious – if you could call mumbling in Gaelic from the former and muttering about Prometheus from the latter, sane – and TJ's initial relief soon faded away.

After only a few hours of them being conscious she was already fighting with the urge to sedate the pair of them as they each seemed to take turns in irritating the hell out her. She'd already had to listen to Rush's demands to let him go to his lab as well as his attempts and also his sarcastic, insulting comments to her when she's stopped him.

She sighed sadly as she thought back on when they'd both first collapsed and the mad, hectic rush that the event was stuck in. All she could really remember was that Rush had collapsed in his lab and then Eli had collapsed in the waiting room. She closed her eyes and took a long, deep breath before opening them again, just in time to see Rush trying – _trying_  being the operative word – to get out of bed.

She put on a stern expression and marched over to him saying, "Doctor  _Rush_! Get your Scottish ass back in bed,  _now_!"

Rush froze and looked at her in shock... she'd just insulted him...  _at last!,_ he absently thought as he nodded silently and climbed back into bed like a decently chastised schoolboy.

TJ stood and watched him as he got back into the bed, looking stern and annoyed but on the inside she was freaking out about insulting him.  _Oh god... what's he going to do to get revenge for this?...._

Eli, who had watched in silence as Rush had tried to escape and then the subsequent confrontation, finally burst into fits of laughter.... Rush's face was a picture and TJ's was so mother-like that he just couldn't help it!

Rush gave him a half-hearted glare as TJ turned to pierce Eli with the same stern look he was laughing at... needless to say he stopped laughing pretty quick!

TJ wanted to just scream in frustration; if it wasn't one annoying her it was the other, they were awful patients when she had to see to them separately but together... together they were the  _nth level of hell_ for a doctor...

She took a deep breath and said, in a voice that was forced calm, "Doctor Rush, it is pointless trying to get out of the infirmary before you are fully able to move without using crutches and thumping about like an elephant," that caused Eli to go off into silent laughter, "Also, you're temperature is still a little too high for me and since you've now had a relapse after your recent 'blow-yourself-up' marathon you will not be leaving until  _I say so_. Understand?"

Rush glared at her and nodded, not daring to speak and end up  _tied_  to the bed he was in! That didn't mean he was happy about being bed-ridden... it was tediously boring and he felt like he was going stir-crazy as a result of it.

TJ then turned her attention to Eli, who was still laughing and so didn't notice when she gave him a glare worthy of applauds from Dr. McKay, "Eli," he noticed her now, his eyes widening in realisation that he was about to get the worst dress-down of his life.

"You also will not be leaving until I am satisfied that you are actually going to be able to walk in a straight line... if I didn't know better I'd say you were under the influence of some narcotic but I just think you're under the influence of  _your own_  impatience." Rush snorted at that comment and Eli gave him a side-long glare, not daring to look away from TJ.

She continued to speak, ignorant to Rush, "I will also have to make sure that you didn't do anymore damage to yourself when you tried to do recreate the Great Escape-" she suddenly found herself cut off.

"I didn't have a motorcycle," Eli muttered, to which Rush couldn't help but respond to.

"No, you have a floating sleigh made out of kino's, and no barbed-wire to get stuck in," Rush smirked as Eli grinned in humour and TJ glared at the pair of them... one day she was going to murder them, she really was.

"Well, if I'd had a motorcycle I could have gotten away quicker-" Eli continued, his entire attention caught by Rush.

"True, but you probably would've crashed into one of the doors since you wouldn't have been able to open them on command like you can with the kino's," Rush pointed out, feeling inordinately happy that he was having a conversation with Eli and he wasn't insulting the kid....  _makes a change._

"Yeah... but wouldn't that be so cool! Biking along the corridors and stuff with the Doc chasing after me and Scott laughing his head off and-" Eli was getting excited and was talking even louder than normal. TJ quickly cut him off before they both forgot she was telling them off.

"Okay!" the pair looked at her, both turning red in embarrassment, "I'm sure you two can talk about the Great Escape plan you're going to come up with later, right now I just want to reiterate the fact that neither of you will be leaving this infirmary until I say so. You understand that?" they both nodded at her in unison, "Good. Now I can leave you to your plotting."

With that she turned and walked away, leaving the pair to stare after her for a moment in surprise of her abrupt departure. Eli turned to look at Rush and muttered, "We didn't drive her that crazy did we?"

Rush just shrugged and said, "Best way to get out of here?"

Eli, thought for a moment before answering, "Our best way of getting out of this infirmary is to listen to her and do as she says... lose the battle, win the war mentality and all?"

Rush smiled at that and nodded, "Aye, lose the battle of escaping the infirmary, win the war of being released-" he looked over at TJ, who was busy with another patient, for a moment before saying, "So continue to annoy her?"

"Oh yeah!" Eli grinned happily, "it's a good pastime."

 

* * *

 

After a week in the infirmary, taking into account both the bouts of consciousness and unconsciousness, the duo were finally released by a harassed-looking TJ and as they walked down the corridor side-by-side, with Rush now using a single crutch which he'd fashioned into a temporary walking stick, and Eli controlling a kino that he'd left in the infirmary, they watched in unison as Scott asked TJ how they'd been as patients;

_"Absolutely awful... if they ever get injured at the same time I think I'll end up going insane!" TJ muttered, her hair looking dishevelled and her clothes rather scruffy._

_"That bad huh?" Scott asked, trying to sound sympathetic and not laugh at the same time._

_"You don't want to know.... seriously!" TJ said as she sat down._

_She sighed before continuing, "I don't know whether or not I should have told them...." She trailed off and just stared at the floor in thought._

_Scott sat down opposite her and said, "You know, before Eli collapsed in the waiting room, he said something that reminded me of someone."_

_TJ looked at Scott and asked, "What'd he say?"_

_"He said, after I'd told him he didn't look so good, that if I didn't realise that Rush looked a whole lot worse then I must either be blind or mentally retarded..." Scott smirked slightly, the comment hadn't hurt his feelings, just given a bit of a shock; what with it coming from Eli and all._

_'Really?' TJ stared at him, wide-eyed in surprise, "That doesn't sound like something Eli would say... that sounds more like something...."_

_"More like something Rush would say, yeah I know," Scott shook his head. "I couldn't help thinking like father like son."_

_Eli quite suddenly shut the kino off and both he and Rush stared at each other, both standing immobile in the corridor they were in._

_"Oh god." was all Rush said before he went and collapsed to the ground unconscious, the walking stick clattering beside him._

_Eli managed to not faint as quickly but he too collapsed, unconscious. His last thought being; **I've been on the same ship as my dad.... oh man!**_

A few minutes after this two scientists and a military guy came across them and radioed for medical assistance.

 

* * *

 

TJ sat in on a small stool and observed the two sleeping men, both back on the beds they'd only just vacated not an hour ago.

"I think they like it too much in here TJ," Scott said softly as he placed another stool beside her and sat down also. He looked at the duo before looking at TJ and said, "do you have any idea why the fainted?"

TJ shook her head, "Physically speaking, there's nothing wrong with either of them that could've caused them both to pass out at the same time... the only possible reason I can think of is that they'd received some shocking information and that, coupled with their injuries, caused them to faint."

"Well... when they wake up we can find out, can't we?" Scott said, trying to uplift TJ's spirits. It failed.

He sighed and rested a hand on her shoulder, "Come on TJ, this isn't your fault! They just got a shock to their system... few hours and they'll be up and about driving you to edge in no time."

TJ continued to stare at the two sleeping forms and said softly, "What if they've found out somehow? What if they know that they're family?"

Scott was silent for a long time then, the pair of them staring at the sleeping Eli and Rush. He finally said, "Then we explain everything we can and let them go on from there."

 

* * *

 

It took Eli nearly two hours to awaken and when he did the first thing that came to him was;  _Rush is my dad!_

He bolted up from the infirmary bed he was on and looked around frantically. His eyes fell on the still unconscious Rush and he felt a stirring of concern for the man,  _my dad..._

TJ, having noticed that Eli was finally awake, came over to him and quietly said, "Eli, it's good to see you're awake-"

"Why didn't you tell us we were related?" Eli whispered, his mind hoping desperately that she'd have a good explanation.

TJ, momentarily at a loss for anything to say, simply stared at Eli. When she did finally grasp on a strand to use to speak she asked, "How did you find out?"

"The kino," Eli answered simply, his eyes still locked with hers. All of a sudden TJ could see that Eli really was Rush's son.... when he wanted to know something, he had the same forceful and insistent stare that Rush had, "Why didn't you tell us?"

TJ managed to tear her eyes away from Eli's and focused them on Rush, she answered his question with her voice soft and sad, "I didn't know how you'd react and I wasn't sure whether you'd even want to know... I remember you said something about your dad walking out on you and your mother so I was reluctant to-"

"Rush isn't the man I remember growing up around and calling dad for the first fourteen years of me life TJ," Eli cut in gently, "I don't know how you've found this out TJ but it must be wrong... it _must_ be."

"I'm sorry Eli but the ancient device compared your DNA and found that your share half the number of alles that Rush has.... you're his biological son and he's your biological father," TJ whispered, she felt awful for telling Eli, she felt awful that he'd found out the way he had, she felt awful for not telling him sooner...

She swallowed and whispered gently, "I'm sorry," before turning and high-tailing it out of the room as quickly as she could.

Eli let her go, his mind was already swirling with so many different thoughts and his heart was conflicted with the emotions running at their highest setting; shock at the development, anger at not being told, sadness finding out from watching a kino, understanding at TJ's reluctance, love for her about the fact that she hadn't been insensitive about it intentionally....

He looked over at Rush,  _my dad_ , and searched his face for anything that he could relate upon himself. He didn't know what they had in common, he didn't even  _know_  anything about Rush except that he was  _wicked smart_!

He was so busy thinking and feeling that he didn't notice when Rush opened his eyes and observed him. He didn't notice that Rush had heard everything that he and TJ had just said, and he also didn't realise that Rush was now searching Eli's face looking for  _any_  attributes that he could say came from  _him_ , that came from  _his_  DNA.

Rush noticed, much like TJ had, that Eli had the same sort of stare he did; when he wanted to know something from someone or when he was searching for an answer, or when he was angry and confrontational to someone. He also noticed that Eli's eyes, though not the same colour as his own, held the same fierce intelligence and thirst for knowledge that Rush's did.

He remembered the first time he'd met Eli, back on Earth. He remembered meeting a boy who needed someone to guide him and help him. He remembered a boy who, when he was transported up onto the General Hammond, had looked at the Earth with the same wonderment and joy that his own eyes had beheld once, a long time ago, before life had beaten him down and turned him into who he was today.

He knew that Eli was his son, even from the day he'd first met the boy he'd felt something for him; like a parental need to protect him. He thought of how Eli had been so angry with him when he'd been up working all night, after not having slept for the previous three days. He recalled how Eli had actually lost his temper and called him a few choice terms he doubted he'd hear from him again. He smiled faintly as he remembered the angered gaze he'd had to look away from, too much like his own, and the heated words that actually hurt, too close to the mark like his own, and the defeated slump as the boy had walked away, far too much like him when he'd lost everything he'd cared for... far too much like him.

He sat up and said, "Eli, we need to talk."

 

* * *

 

TJ was sitting in the empty mess hall, trying desperately not to let the tears in her eyes fall, when she heard the sound of feet and low voices heading towards her. She wiped her eyes clear of the tears and stood up, trying to look as though she was fine, and turned towards the door the voices were coming from.

She waited for the owner's to step through the door, fully expecting some SGC personnel and so was surprised to see Eli and Rush walk in.... together.

 

* * *

 

"I need to get something to eat, the nurse on this shift isn't one for being loving," Eli muttered. He and Rush had talked and decided upon a course of action.

"Do you think-" Rush began but Eli cut him off.

"Yeah... she always goes there when she'd upset, but only when there's no ration soup being served," Eli said shortly as he climbed out of bed, far quieter than Rush was about to.

As Rush got out of the bed he leaned over and grabbed his walking stick and... tripped up over his own feet.

He landed awkwardly on his face and let out a quiet, "Ummph!"

Eli smirked as he helped Rush stand up, "You do realise that you need to be quiet when you're escaping from the infirmary, right?"

Rush glared at Eli and said gruffly, "Just get me the damned walking stick,  _son_."

Eli chuckled silently and passed him his walking stick, "there you go  _pops_."

That caused Rush to give Eli a glare that would scare even Rodney McKay himself. Eli just laughed quietly.

As they snuck out of the infirmary Eli heard the nurse on the shift snore lightly from the corner office where the three nurses usually stayed unless needed.

"Let's go find TJ," Eli said as they walked out into the corridor and set off for the mess hall.

 

* * *

 

TJ stood, frozen to the spot, and stared at the pair of them as they walked straight over to her. She continued to stand there unmoving, when Eli guided her over to one of the tables and pressed on her shoulders to get her to sit down. Rush and Eli then sat opposite her, side-by-side.

They sat there in silence for about two minutes before TJ couldn't take the silence anymore and so said her eyes starting to tear up again, "I'm sorry I didn't tell either of you that you were related but I thought that you wouldn't want to talk about it with me and that you would be angry and upset and wouldn't be able to work with each other anymore and then when we had an emergency then you guys might not be able to work together and that might cause loads of people to die and-and-and i'm sorry!"

With that TJ broke down and began to sob in earnest. Eli and Rush both looked at each other and silently agreed to fix this mess. Eli stood up and went and sat next to TJ whilst Rush began to speak, "TJ, you don't need to apologize. It is isn't your fault as to how we found out and it also isn't your fault that we're related," he smiled slightly at that before continuing, "I understand your reluctance to tell us since you didn't know how we would react and how that would affect everyone aboard Destiny, so I cannot, in good faith, be angry at you for that."

TJ looked up at him when he paused, Eli had an arm around her shoulders, trying to comfort her and looked at Rush. He nodded and Rush continued to speak, "However," TJ seized up, she knew that he'd say something now, tell her how stupid she was and how-, "However, I must say one thing. Had none of this ever happened I would never have known I had a son, even one as annoying as Eli."

"Hey!" Eli exclaimed giving Rush a glare, TJ laughed – hiccuped really – as Rush smirked and continued, "And though it's regrettable that all of this had to happen for us to discover this, I'm glad that we're all alive and no-one died as a result. You shouldn't blame yourself since you did what you thought was right at that moment in time when you found out I was Eli's father. If you had informed me when I had first woken up I don't think anything would have stopped me from going to see Eli; and I wouldn't have gone to the mess hall first," He smiled at her warmly and TJ blushed slightly in embarrassment.

"You would've collapsed before we'd have even got halfway to the lab if you hadn't eaten first," TJ defended herself quietly.

" _Yeah_... and he doesn't make it a habit of  _fainting_  does he?" Eli said sarcastically, shaking TJ softly and eliciting a giggle from her.

As TJ looked down at the table Rush and Eli made eye-contact and silently conversed;  _'do you think she'll be okay now?'_ _ **'I think she will,'**_ _'then we'd best get back the infirmary before she realises we're not meant to be here,'_ _ **'good idea.'**_

Eli coughed lightly and said, "Well TJ, we'd best be going so..." he gingerly stood up and was about to turn away when TJ spoke.

"You've escaped from the infirmary haven't you?"

Rush, who was still seated, looked at Eli and sighed. Eli shrugged and prepared himself for the big blow-up from TJ that, strangely, never came. Instead what did come was laughter. Full on, happy-girl laughter.

TJ was laughing! At  _what,_ they didn't really know but they figured it was at them.... they  _thought_  it was at them at least.

Eventually TJ managed to partially compose herself and managed to say, "You guys said you'd escape from the infirmary.... and you did!" before she was off again in gales of laughter.

Rush looked at Eli with a questioning look but it was returned, neither of them knew what was so funny about the whole thing, but they didn't question TJ's sense of humour... Scott had done that once and he'd regretted it the next time he'd had a check-up...

Eli sat back down, next to Rush this time, and they both watched in unison with smiles on their faces as she laughed and laughed at some joke only she knew...

And that was how the nurse from the infirmary found them, smiling at the crazy, laughing doctor.

**Author's Note:**

> This is posted on Fanfiction.net but I'm reposting it here (with edits to the spelling/grammar) so you can all enjoy it.  
> Tell me what you think would ya? :)


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